Priority D - Targeted support for children and young people who demonstrate behaviours that may put them at risk and Implementation
Last updated: 25 May 2012 15:10 UK|
Priority D |
Targeted support for children and young people who demonstrate behaviours that may put them at risk |
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Lead Partnership |
14 – 19 Partnership Board |
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Rationale |
Our current service delivery for Tier 2 and 3 children and young people is broadly structured around specific outcomes (NEET, offending, non-attendance, positive activities and health) rather than risk and causal factors. Services can be redesigned to better meet the needs of those children and young people who may be at risk of a range of poor outcomes and reduce the number who may require expensive (and less effective) Tier 4 services. |
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Key Outcomes |
1. Reduce the number of young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training. 2. Reduce the number of children persistently absent from school. 3. Reduce teenage conceptions. 4. Reduce first time entrants into the youth justice system. |
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What we will do |
a) Invest in community-based positive activities offering accredited programmes in target areas of the city. b) Develop a multi-agency targeted youth support service. c) Develop the role of a generic ‘youth adviser’, skilled in a range of intervention styles and methods. d) Improve the support to schools to offer high quality Personal Social and Health Education. e) Re-commission the school nursing service. f) Supported transitions, especially from primary to secondary school, for at risk youngsters. |
RESHAPING TARGETED YOUTH SUPPORT SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AGED 9-19 YEARS OLD IN PORTSMOUTH
Information for staff and partner organisationsPriority D of the Children’s Trust Plan: “targeted support for children and young people who demonstrate behaviours that may put them at risk”.
Earlier this year (2011) the 14-19 Partnership Board were tasked with reshaping targeted and specialist youth support services in Portsmouth. This change is to make sure we met Priority D of the Children’s Trust plan (above) and to better meet the needs of those children and young people who may be at risk from a range of poor outcomes.
Between October and December 2011 we will be consulting with service providers, schools, other key stakeholders and young people about our plans. This page provides reference material as part of that consultation and we will keep it updated with any key information and supporting documents,
Key strands
Our strategic approach to reshaping youth services is based around three key strands.
1. Open access structured youth activity programmes (positive activities)
The proposal is to adopt a phased approach to growing and developing the market by commissioning a mix of PCC and voluntary and community sector organisations to deliver a range of youth activity programmes across the city that will be open to all young people, but with the emphasis on delivering more structured activities that will lead to positive outcomes. This means things like helping young people to get back to back to school, gaining qualifications and progressing to further education and into employment.
A procurement timetable for the commissioning is being developed and it is hoped that the tendering process can begin almost immediately so that services can be in place by April/May 2012, in time for the school summer holidays.
2. Integrated targeted youth support service
The proposal is to provide a targeted youth support service by joining together existing targeted youth services within PCC and the voluntary sector. This will create an integrated and more effective service which will be delivered across three areas of the City: North, Central and South, working closely with schools and local organisations and communities.
The exact model for structuring the work is yet to be decided, but is likely to involve up to 21 FTE Skilled Youth Advisers who will be employed to offer targeted youth support case work, based on developing the relationship with the young person and their family. Support will be offered to the most vulnerable children and young people in Portsmouth. This would include young people who are involved in or at risk of:
• Becoming NEET at the ages of 16-19 (not in education, employment or training)
• Getting involved in crime
• Getting pregnant under the age of 18
• Misusing drugs and alcohol
• Being persistently absent from school
• Poor mental health
This strand requires significant input from HR, and because of the need to work in partnership with schools, local communities and other voluntary sector agencies, this integrated service is likely to begin at the start of the new academic year i.e. September 2012.
3. Specialist tier 2/3 services
The plan is to maintain and refocus a range of specialist tier 2/3 services which will be delivered alongside the integrated targeted youth support service. However, there is a general consensus that for the moment there has not yet been sufficient consultation for it to be clear how these staff will work alongside the integrated targeted youth support service. Given that the latter will now be starting next September, there is time to consult more widely in order to develop the specialist roles more effectively. It is therefore likely that this strand will also aim for a September 2012 start.
